Spicy Lemon Date Dip

My date obsession continues unchecked.  This iteration: a spicy, lemony date dip/spread. 

Dates are simmered with spices (cumin, red pepper flakes, ginger and lemon) until soft and stewy, then served up with toasted pita bread.  Sadly mine did not turn out to be the pretty deep color of Joy the Baker's, it was sort of pallid and reminiscent of refried beans.  It definitely didn't taste like refried beans, though... zesty, sweet, and quite spicy, for sure.  

I like this dip, but it's not my favorite date dish thus far.  My favorite still falls firmly in the salty-cheese stuffed category.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower, Toasted Breadcrumbs and Pancetta

Wow, this Franken-recipe was good... but if I ever make it again, I'll pay better attention to how much salt I put in. With so many salty ingredients, extra salt was a little bit over the top. But tasty nonetheless.

The recipe I ultimately used was an amalgamation of a bunch of different recipes... inspired by this blog post about using toasted breadcrumbs on pasta, as well as a head of cauliflower from the CSA. Basically, this is what I did:

- roasted the cauliflower in some olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper until it was browned
- crisped up the pancetta in a pan, then removed it and threw some minced garlic, a little olive oil, red pepper flakes, and anchovy paste in the pan
- toasted the breadcrumbs in a pan with olive oil
- cooked the pasta
- tossed everything together along with a bunch of chopped parsley, parmesan and a little bit of the pasta water

Just watch the added salt!

Chickpeas with Bacon and Spinach (Topped with an Egg)

So, you could probably tell from my blogging history that I have a special place in my heart for bacon, as well as quick dishes with chickpeas and greens. Also, I subscribe to the theory of "when in doubt, throw an egg on it"... Tonight these disparate loves of mine came together like magic. This dish is ridiculously easy (only 6 ingredients), has bacon, and tastes amazing with a fried egg over easy thrown on top. I think Tim would second my feelings about it, but his memory of the meal may be tainted by the fact that the Nats scored 2 homers against his Mets whilst we ate it.

The recipe had one odd set of instructions that I took the liberty of ignoring... the recipe calls for boiling the bacon in water before browning it in the saute pan. While there is probably some specific reason for that step, I just couldn't justify the extra effort, nor could I ignore the disgusting images that flashed through my mind when I thought "Boil bacon?," which included that breakfast scene from "Better Off Dead" where the mother served slimey green boiled bacon because her husband doesn't like all the grease of fried bacon. So I just browned it in the pan, took it out and crumbled it, poured off the excess fat and carried on with the recipe. My only other suggestion regarding the bacon is that you not cook it further with the chickpeas and spinach- that only serves to make it soggy. After you cook the bacon, remove it and set it aside, then fold it in at the end. Enjoy!